Power Rangers: Animarium- Part IV- Expanding the Family
by rjendo
Summary: When a mixed team of Rangers goes to Africa and rescues a female lioness from a poacher, they are unaware that she's actually a lost Wild Zord. Once they bring her to the Animarium, a series of miracles occurs, including one that nobody thought would ever happen. The group meets the Dino Charge Rangers.


**Power Rangers: Animarium Part IV- Expanding the Family** **  
**Summary: When a mixed team of Rangers goes to Africa and rescues a female lioness from a poacher, they are unaware that she's actually a lost Wild Zord. Once they bring her to the Animarium, a series of miracles occurs, including one that nobody thought would ever happen. The group meets the Dino Charge Rangers.  
 **Rangers and cannon characters:** Tyler N, Shelby, Koda, Riley, Chase, Ivan, Kendall (Dino Charge) Daggeron (Mystic Force) Chad, Carter and Dana (Lightspeed Rescue) Cole, Danny, Alyssa, Princess Shayla (Wild Force) Casey (Jungle Fury) Antonio (aka Tony- Samurai) Wes, Circuit (Time Force) Tommy, Billy (Mighty Morphin)  
 **Original Characters- Humans:** Tyler M (who will be known as Ty) Charlie, Tyke  
 **Original Characters- Animals:** Nalita (Indian name meaning Lotus) Jasiri (Swahili for Brave) Kidogo (Swahili for little) Zuri (Swahili for beautiful) and Ajabu (Swahili for Miracle)  
Author's Note: I used Google Translate to come up with the animal names, so if they're not completely accurate, I apologize

Tyke and Red sat in a field overlooking the Animarium. Red grumbled happily, excited at all he was going to get to experience now that he was now a flesh and blood lion. He was only slightly smaller than he had been when he was a zord, but still very large. Tyke looked at his friend.  
"So you like being real now, Red?" Tyke asked. Suddenly, in his head, the little guy heard a voice:  
 _"Yes I do. It's amazing."_ _  
_Tyke looked at the big lion. "Did you just talk to me?"  
 _"Yes I did. You have tapped into your dad's ability to understand me."_ _  
_"WOW! Daddy knew what you were saying and thinking?"  
 _"Yes, he did. And you have that ability in your soul as well."_ _  
_Tyke reached up and put his nose up to Red's, and the two shared a tender moment.  
A few weeks later, Tyke led Red into a special building that had been built for the big lion. Tommy and Princess Shayla had taken the liberty of contacting Casey, the Red Jungle Fury Ranger who had been working as a groundskeeper at the Angel Grove Zoo as well as Daggeron, a member of the Mystic Force Rangers who had used his magic to supply food for Red. Red looked around the enclosure, amazed at how big and spacious it was. He let out a loud yawn and lay down on his stomach and fell asleep.  
Back in the Command Chamber, Tommy, Wes, and Circuit had just welcomed the Blue, Red and Pink Lightspeed Rangers to the Animarium. The new arrivals were wearing their signature Red and Black jackets.  
Tommy spoke first. "It's great to see you again, Carter."  
Carter smiled. "Same to you, Tommy. This is Dana Mitchell, the Pink Lightspeed Ranger and Chad Lee, the Blue Lightspeed Ranger."  
Tommy nodded. "Welcome. Carter, the reason I asked you here is that we're starting to establish a new Ranger presence here to monitor for problems all over the world. I assume you remember Cole?"  
Carter nodded. "I sure do. I was sorry to hear about his death."  
"Well, his old friend the Red Lion needs help now that he's a real lion."  
Carter nodded. "I remember the Red Lion."  
Tommy took Carter to the field where Red, Tyke, and Circuit were relaxing. Carter walked up. "Hello, Red. You're looking good." The big lion nuzzled Carter, who smiled and pet him on the nose. "Keep up the good work, big guy." Red walked away, his tail not swishing as much as usual. The red Lightspeed ranger looked at Tommy as the two walked into the temple area.  
"He didn't seem too happy."  
Tommy nodded. "I think he's starting to adapt to instinct and is getting lonely."  
"Lonely? You mean he wants a mate?"  
"I think so."  
"Where are we going to find one? There aren't exactly many zord sized female lions out there."  
Princess Shayla walked up, deep in thought. "There might be one possibility." The other rangers walked up and looked at her. "Long ago...a female Lion Wild Zord lived on the Animarium... however... during the great battle... she was left behind on earth along with several other Wild Zords to protect the earth... that was the last time we saw her...nobody knows what happened to her. The last place we saw her was in Africa."  
Wes stepped forward. "Maybe we should go look for her."  
Tommy shook his head. "Where would we start? Africa is huge."  
As if in response, the fountain behind the princess erupted. The group rushed over to see that a large lioness only slightly smaller than Red in a cage was getting laughed at by a group of guys with guns.  
Danny looked at the images. "That's a poacher! We've got to get her out of there!"  
Tommy nodded. "OK, here's what we're going to do. Danny, Carter, Chad, Dana, Alyssa, and Wes, you guys come with me. We'll save that lion from that poacher and bring her home."  
The group ran out of the temple and towards the exit. Princess Shayla turned back towards the pond.  
"It can't be."  
In the area seen in the images, the lioness was whimpering in the cage she was being held in. The poachers were still laughing at here. The lead poacher smirked.  
"You're going to get me a lot of money!"  
Suddenly they heard the screech of tires. The Lightspeed Rover pulled up and the team of seven heroes jumped out. Tommy in his green t-shirt and jeans, Danny in his black Wild Force jacket, Alyssa in her white jacket, Wes in his Red sweatshirt, and Carter, Chad, and Dana in their Red and black Lightspeed Jackets. Tommy stepped forward a few steps.  
"Let her go!"  
"No way! She's a big lion and she's going to make me some big money! What are you going to do about it?"  
"This!" The other Rangers lined up next to their leader. "IT'S MORPHIN TIME!" Tommy quickly morphed into the Green Ranger  
"WILD ACCESS!" Danny and Alyssa morphed into the Black and White Rangers  
"Time for Time Force!" Wes morphed into the Red Time Force Ranger  
"Lightspeed Rescue!" Carter, Chad, and Dana morphed into the Lightspeed Rangers  
While Tommy, Wes, Chad, and Carter took the poachers on, Danny, Alyssa, and Dana rushed over to the cage to calm down the lioness. Danny reached into the cage.  
"It's okay girl. We'll have you out of here soon." At first the scared lion backed up, but then she cautiously moved forward and sniffed Danny's gloved hand. She finally nuzzled her nose against it, indicating that she trusted him.  
Meanwhile, the other Rangers had the poachers surrounded. Suddenly, a jeep roared into the area carrying a group of soldiers. The leader nodded to his troops and they quickly cuffed the poachers. He walked up to Tommy.  
"I'm Sergeant Fabrice."  
"It's nice to meet you, Sergeant."  
"We've been after these poachers for months. And apparently they've been after this special girl for a while as well. We're hoping to eventually find her a mate."  
"Sergeant, we might be able to help you out with that. We have a male lion on our facility that is lonely. Could we take her with us and introduce them?".  
"That works for me."  
Tommy and the officer shook hands. "OK, Danny, go ahead!"  
Danny smiled. "Ok, girl, time to come out!" he swung his bison axe down hard and broke the lock holding the cage closed. It fell to the ground. Dana and Alyssa opened the cage and the lioness slowly walked out and nuzzled Danny. The rangers all de-morphed and took turns rubbing the big cat. Tommy smiled wide. "Ok, guys, let's take her home! Sergeant, would you like to come with us?"  
"I'd love to!"

Meanwhile, back on the Animarium, Princess Shayla was talking with a new arrival to the Animarium. It was none other than Daggeron, the Solaris Knight of the Mystic Force Power Rangers. The two were discussing food for Red. Daggeron had a special hidden area near the base of the Mystic Force Rangers where he kept a stash of meat.  
"I'd be happy to supply some for Red."  
"You might also have to supply more than you think." A familiar voice came from behind them.  
Princess Shayla and Daggeron turned around and saw Cole.  
"Cole!" Shayla ran forward and hugged the Red Ranger.  
"Hello, Princess."  
"What are you doing here?"  
"I came to tell you a little something about the lion your team is bringing home. Originally, she was one of the lost Wild Zords. But I recently met up with her and turned her into a real lion."  
"So what you're saying is, she'd be the perfect mate for Red?"  
"Exactly. Oh, and please don't tell Tyke I was here, ok?"  
"Sure thing." Princess Shayla gave Cole a tight hug as the former leader of the Wild Force Rangers disappeared.  
Back in Africa, Dana and Danny were checking the lioness over to make sure she wasn't hurt. Then, out from behind the shadows, a young teen in a red tank top and jeans stepped forward.  
"Well done, rangers."  
Wes recognized the newcomer. "Casey! Good to see you, bud!"  
Casey nodded. "Rangers, I work as a veterinary assistant at the Angel Grove Zoo. My staff and I will be willing to assist you with the care of this lioness whenever you need it."  
"We're taking her back to the Animarium so she can meet Red and hopefully cheer him up."  
"Very well. I'll go back with you."  
Later, on the southern field of the Animarium, the group of rangers who rescued the female lion was walking her around the Animarium. Suddenly, Circuit flew in.  
"Hey guys! I see you got the lioness."  
Wes smiled. "Circuit, can you go find Red and lead him out here?"  
"Sure can!" the little owl rocketed away. Before long he came back with Red, Tyke, and princess Shayla. The princess walked up. "Welcome home, Nalita." The group looked at her confused.  
"Nalita was the name given to her after she was made real. It's Swahili for lotus."  
Red walked up to the newcomer and the two sniffed each other and then nuzzled each other. They walked away from the assembled group. Danny and Alyssa fought back tears, happy for their big friend.  
While the two lions kept close to each other, Tommy and Daggeron walked in Angel Grove Park along with Dana, Carter, and Chad.  
Dana spoke up. "Guys, I have a feeling that Nalita coming to live on the Animarium isn't going to be the last surprise Red gets."  
Carter looks at her. "You don't mean…."  
Dana nods. "The way those two are so close, I have a feeling we'll have a litter of baby lions running around before long."  
Chad smiled. "That'll be great."  
Carter nodded. "Tyke would love to hear that."  
The group rounded a corner, and then suddenly they were surrounded by a large group of putties. Tommy looked around. "I've never seen a group this big!"  
Carter nodded. "They're everywhere!"  
Tommy made a decision. "Better not take any chances, guys! It's Morphin time!"  
The green ranger raised his morpher- "Dragonzord!"  
The other rangers followed suit- "Lightspeed Rescue!"  
"Magical source, Mystic Force!"  
The five Rangers charged the large group surrounding them. They managed to make a dent in the crowd, but even with Daggeron and Tommy's special attacks combined, the putties just kept coming. Soon the group was surrounded.  
Carter looked up nervously "This doesn't look good, guys!"  
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, the group heard a loud "DINO MORPHER BLAST!" A series of blasts rained down on the putties giving the surrounded rangers room to maneuver. From out of nowhere, the group was joined by six rangers they had never seen before. Carter stood up.  
"Who are you guys?"  
"We're the Dino Charge Rangers! We're here to help you out!" the Red ranger held out his hand. Carter accepted it. "Let's do this!"  
The two Red Rangers fired their blasters side by side taking out a whole row of putties. Dana and the pink Dino Ranger combined their blaster rays to take out a whole mob of putties. Chad and the blue Dino Ranger took out a series of putties with rapid fire kicks, while Tommy teamed up with the Green and Black Rangers to slash their way through. Daggeron joined the Gold Ranger as they hacked a group of putties with their swords. The Red Dino Ranger stepped to the front of the group.  
"We'll finish this up!" he pulled out what looked like a light blue battery from his belt. "Dino Charger Ready!" he tossed it up in the air. "Weapons, combine!" the five main rangers' weapons combined. Red leaped up in the air and came down with the combined weapon while the Gold Ranger charged up his sword.  
"Dino Spike, final strike!" Red threw the weapon while the Gold Ranger launched a lightning bolt from his sword.  
"Ptera lightning, final slash!" The combined energy from the weapons took out the remaining putties.  
All 11 rangers demorphed. Tommy stepped forward towards the six newcomers.  
"Thanks, guys. We couldn't have done it without you."  
The kid in the red hoodie stepped forward. "It was our pleasure."  
"So, what are your names?"  
"I'm Tyler."  
The guy in the black and Gray hooded shirt stepped forward. "I'm Chase."  
The girl in the pink shirt and blue jeans stepped forward. "I'm Shelby"  
The kid in the green shirt stepped forward. "I'm Riley."  
Then the guy in the blue sleeveless shirt stepped forward. "My name…. Koda"  
And finally the guy in the white shirt and tan jacket stepped forward. "I am Sir Ivan of Zandar."  
Tommy nodded. "How about you guys come back with us to our place?"  
Tyler smiled. "We'd love to. But first we have to go pick up someone."  
Later that afternoon, the group was wandering around the fields on the Animarium. The Dino Charge Rangers' technical advisor Kendall, had joined them. Ivan had given the princess a kiss on the hand when the group arrived on the Animarium. Tyler, Shelby, Carter, Dana, and Tommy were talking all about how the Dino Charge Rangers came into existence. Koda and Circuit found a nice tree to climb up into. Chase managed to find areas around to ride his skateboard. And the rest of the group found ways to amuse themselves. Tommy and Tyler managed to come to an agreement where the Dino Charge Rangers would back the Animarium based Rangers up whenever the need came, and vice versa. Casey, the Red Jungle Fury Ranger, had arrived to help take care of the two lions.  
Later that night, the Animarium Rangers and their new friends gathered around the campfire. Tommy looked at the blue and gold Dino rangers. "So Koda, you're a caveman from 100,000 years ago, and Ivan, you're a knight from about 800 years ago?"  
The two rangers nodded.  
"Wow. Just when I thought I'd seen everything."  
Kendall took over. "You see Tommy, when someone bonds to an Energem, they stop aging. Which is why Koda and Ivan are still alive."  
"So how many of these energems are there?"  
"Ten."  
"Which means there are 10 Dino Charge Rangers?"  
"Correct."  
"Where are the other 4 Rangers?"  
Kendall pulled out her Energem. "I'm the purple Ranger. The Silver Ranger is a giant bird-like warrior who lives in another dimension, Tyler's father who is a geologist, is the Aqua Ranger and he's back in Amber Beach, and the Graphite Ranger is the prince of Zandar."  
"So let me get this straight. We've got a team of 10 rangers consisting of four teenagers, a scientist, a geologist, a caveman, a knight, a prince, and a giant bird?"  
"That's about right."  
"Man, this has to be the most diverse group of rangers I've ever heard of."  
The next day, the group was working on a building for Red and Nalita, when Cole arrived. "Hey, guys!" Tyke saw him and ran up.  
"DADDY!" the little guy hugged his father.  
"Hey little guy. How are you doing?"  
"Doing great! I've got a lot of new friends!"  
Cole smiled. "I see that. Now I'm only visiting for a while, ok?"  
Tyke's smile disappeared. "Daddy, I…."  
"I know, son. But I'm just here to help with Red and Nalita. But you can help me."  
Cole took his son and met up with Red and Nalita. While he was doing that, the rest of the group took a break and went to the Command Chamber where they introduced the Dino Charge Rangers to Billy and Alpha. Kendall looked around in amazement.  
"This place is amazing!"  
Billy walked up. "Yeah, it's been in the works for a while."  
"You guys even have a medbay, living quarters, everything."  
Billy and Kendall spent hours going over all the panels while the rest of the group got back to work on finishing the shelter for Red and Nalita. With Red being so large, he was able to help them get to high places. Within a few weeks the shelter was done. One night, Red rushed to the temple area and started roaring and growling frantically. Princess Shayla appeared from her pond and Circuit flew in. Luckily all the Rangers had decided to camp out over night. Red's roaring woke them all up. Danny walked up to him.  
"Easy, Red. What's wrong?"  
Red continued to roar and shake his head. Tyke walked up to him and put his hand on Red's paw. "He says something's wrong with Nalita!"  
The group piled into the Rescue Rover along with Tyler's Jeep and zoomed out to the shelter where Red layed down next to his mate, who was breathing heavily and weakly. Cole walked up to her and gently rubbed her snout. "Easy, girl. It's okay." Tyke helped keep Red calm while his dad worked on Nalita. Casey handed Cole his stethoscope. He held it against Nalita's stomach.  
"One…two…three…." He handed the stethoscope back to Casey, then pet the big lioness on the nose. "You're ok, girl. Nothing's wrong. You're just expecting." Nalita smiled weakly. Dana's mouth dropped open.  
"She's pregnant?"  
Cole nodded. "Yep." He turned to his old friend. "You're gonna be a father, old friend!" Red roared happily and his tail swished excitedly. Everybody else started cheering and clapping and congratulating Red and Nalita. Casey smiled. "I'll go to the clinic in the morning and get an ultrasound machine and we'll see how far along she is."  
The next morning the group was back in the shelter excitedly awaiting the results of the ultrasound. Casey finally unplugged the ultrasound and gave her belly a rub. "Good Girl." He walked towards the group and showed them the picture of the ultrasound on the computer screen.  
"What we're looking at here is 3 lion cubs, one female and two males. Now here's the interesting part. When they're born they will be the same size as other newborn lions."  
"When will they be here?" piped up Tyke.  
"Well, she's about a month along so about 2 months more."  
Circuit chimed in. "We'd better start thinking about names."  
"Circuit, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but let's wait until the little ones are born."  
Cole smiled. "Looks like we need to add on a nursery to the shelter."  
About a month and a half later, the new compound that Circuit had dubbed the "Cat Complex" was completed. It was a giant area, about 70,000 square feet in size with a really high ceiling to accommodate Red and Nalita's height. The building had a main living area where the humans could relax and play with the lions, a sleeping area, a medical area for checkups, a food storage area, as well as a nursery for when the cubs arrived. Nalita and Red spent most of their time in the main area. However, the closer she got to her due date, she started to spend more time in the medical area.  
One night... just weeks before her due date, Nalita was lying in the medical area. Casey had brought in some lion experts from the Angel Grove Zoo with him to assist him as well. Cole brought everyone together. Red stayed with Nalita in the medical area while Cole ran the meeting in an office off of the nursery area.  
"Well, everyone, in just a few days, we'll have 3 little ones arriving. I'm going to do one more ultrasound after this to check up on the babies. Now here's what we're going to do. Normally, she would give birth without any humans present. However, in this case she is going to need some help, especially since we have multiple babies coming." Cole pulled out a clipboard with a piece of paper and went over the roles everyone would play.  
After he was finished, Casey hooked Nalita up to the ultrasound. He looked at the screen, smiling. Then he saw something that made him do a double take. "What the?" He moved the sensor back to a certain spot. "HEY COLE! YOU'D BETTER COME OVER HERE!"  
Cole rushed over. "What is it?"  
Casey pointed to the screen. "Looks like we missed something during the initial ultrasound.  
Cole smiled. "Wow. It's another boy. He's slightly smaller than the others, but it looks like he's doing good." He moved up to Nalita and Red's noses. "Guys, looks like there's a fourth baby in there."  
Red's tail swished happily as he nuzzled Nalita. Casey printed out the ultrasound and took it over to the group of humans. "There we go, folks. One girl and three boys. All healthy." He turned to the assembled group. "Guys, she could go into labor any minute, so I'm going to start getting things ready."  
Casey's assistants followed him into the nursery area and started grabbing supplies. The whole group was excited that soon four little baby lions would be joining the family. Red paced around the main area, stopping occasionally to check on his mate. Cole smiled. "I know, old friend. I was anxious when little Tony was about to be born. I couldn't wait for him to come."  
Suddenly, Nalita let out a load, anguished roar. Cole and Casey jumped back.  
Casey nodded to Cole and yelled at the staff. "Looks like it's time!"  
Carter escorted a protesting Tyke out of the room. The rest of the group went into the main living area and waited for word. Dana wheeled over a table with a giant Tupperware tub on it, along with a scale and four blankets. While Casey and one of his assistants went over to Nalita's tail, Cole went to her nose and rubbed it gently.  
"Shhhh… it's okay, girl. You're doing fine."  
Suddenly, Casey screamed out. "The first one's coming!" He and his assistant gently guided the little one out and into a waiting blanket. The little one was red with little yellow patches. "It's a boy!" the newborn let out chirps and shivered as he was wrapped up in a blanket. He did a little swiping at the assistant's face. Casey smiled. "Man, little guy. You're just like your dad!" He quickly turned his attention back towards the mother just in time to see the second baby emerge and roll into the waiting towel. This little one was a very light tan with a brown tip on the edge of the tail. Casey smiled and fought back tears.  
"It's a girl! The little girl's here!" he turned his attention back as his assistant wrapped up the little girl and placed her in the Tupperware tub next to her brother. She yawned and chirped.  
The third cub, another boy, came not too long later, although he got slightly stuck on the way out, but thanks to Casey and the assistant, he made it and chirped loudly. He was slightly smaller than the first two.  
After another 30 minutes, the fourth cub started to emerge, but as soon as his front legs were out, Casey knew something wasn't right. He moved in quick and helped guide the baby onto the towel and looked at him, then shouted toward the front.  
"COLE! GET OVER HERE! THIS ONE'S NOT BREATHING!"  
Cole rushed over. "Oh, no. Please, God, no!" he walked up and started to gently rub the little one on the shoulder blades from the base of the neck. But the little one still didn't move.  
"God, please, no!" Cole gave the little one another stroke, then the little one finally started chirping and shivering. Cole and Casey breathed a sigh of relief.  
Cole wrapped up the little one in a blanket quickly, and then placed him on the blanket next to his brothers and sister. He smiled at the little one who had given them quite a scare. After Nalita had finally calmed down and Casey had done a final checkup on her, he nodded to Cole who brought the babies over and placed the towel on the ground near their parents, who gently nuzzled their little newborns. After a while, everybody was allowed to come in and see the babies. Shelby and Kendall helped Casey document the cubs' information. Circuit sat on the table but then hopped down near them and snapped pictures of each of the babies, getting each one from a different angle. In a corner of the medical area, Circuit had sent the pictures to Casey's computer so they could be printed. Casey took the pictures and laid them out on a light table for the group to see.  
"Okay, guys, time for some names. Circuit, I think we need to come up with some Swahili names for these babies."  
Circuit flapped his wings. "Okay!"  
Casey pointed to the picture of the first born cub. "Okay, first off, this little guy. I don't know how, but somehow he came out looking just like his dad. And he sure is brave. Circuit. What's the Swahili word for brave?"  
Circuit did some processing. "It's Jasiri."  
"Okay. Jasiri it is." He wrote the name at the bottom of the photo, then slid it off to the side. "Ok, baby number two, the little girl. Obviously, we can't just call her girl." He looked at the photo. "She sure is beautiful, just like her mother." Circuit reported that the Swahili word for beautiful was Zuri. Casey wrote it down. The third cub, the second born boy, was named Kidogo since he was so much smaller than the others. Casey pulled the picture of the last cub forward, remembering the scare the group had gotten. "This little one sure was a miracle." Circuit reported that the Swahili name for miracle was Ajabu. After the names had been assigned to the little ones and filed, the group went back to the new family. Cole and Tyke went over to Red and told him the names of his little ones.  
Casey went down to where the little ones were nuzzled next to their mother. He checked out each of the babies, then did a little check on Nalita, then rubbed the mother's nose. He walked up to the group. "Guys, Nalita can't nurse the babies. It might have something to do with the fact that she used to be a zord."  
Dana stepped forward. "So, we're going to have to bottle feed each of them. That's going to be a tall order."  
Cole stepped forward. "You guys can handle it, especially with this little helper right here." He nodded to his son. Tyke looked at his dad.  
"I get to help with the babies?"  
"Yes, son."  
Cole and Casey conferred while they watched the humans interact with the babies. Tyke sat next to Kidogo.  
"Hey, Kidogo! My name's Tyke!"  
Kidogo nuzzled Tyke's knee.  
Cole smiled. "I think Tyke should be the one to feed Kidogo, with some help of course."  
They watched as the rest of the group met the babies. Jasiri seemed to take a liking to Ty, Zuri bonded with Charlie, and Ajabu linked with Shelby. Casey and Cole made notes and decided that Ty, Charlie, and Shelby should be the ones to feed the newborns.  
Once everything was settled and he was satisfied things were in good hands, Cole pulled his son over to the side.  
"Well, little guy, I've done what I came here to do, so it's time for me to go."  
Tyke rushed into his dad's arms. "No, daddy! You can't go!"  
"Tony, I only came to help out with Nalita and make sure the babies were born okay. But all that's done now. Besides, Red and Nalita need you to help with little Kidogo."  
Tyke sniffled and hugged his dad tight…. "Okay, daddy. I will."  
That night, the group had assembled on Red's hill. Cole had said his goodbye to Nalita earlier so she didn't have to leave the medical area. Red was there, lying on his stomach as his former master leaned in and hugged the big lion's face.  
"Well, Red, you take good care of those babies, ok? And don't be afraid to ask for help with them."  
Red nuzzled Cole and let out a sad moan, tears trickling down his face.  
Cole continued down the line giving hugs and handshakes to the group. Finally, the sun began to set.  
"Well, looks like it's time." Cole turned and headed towards the edge of the hill. As the sun faded, Cole faded with it. Tyke watched as his dad left, then turned and buried his face in Red's thick fur and sobbed. Tommy walked over and took the little guy in his arms and hugged him tight.  
A week later, the cubs had grown big enough that their eyes were open and they were walking around and playing. They each had their own personality. Jasiri was just like his dad, adventurous and full of energy. Zuri was reserved, but she was almost always in Charlie's arms. Ajabu was always climbing on stuff and had to be restrained often. Kidogo, however, wasn't growing as fast as his siblings, which caused Casey concern. He was basically the runt of the litter. But he did take a liking to Tyke, who cuddled him as much as possible, and fed him his bottle with Casey's help.  
Red looked around at his family, and he realized that for the first time in his life as a real flesh-and-blood lion, he had never felt happier.

-The End  
. I'm also working on a possible part 5 involving a baby wolf pup. But I won't publish it if there's not enough interest, so please comment and let me know if you're interested in another episode.


End file.
